single center’s pediatric cardiac ICU (CICU). PATIENTS: Eight hundred forty-one patients undergoing bypass operations during a 52-month period (June 2019–October 2023). Predominantly, patients with congenital heart disease. The median age was 7.1 months with 58% younger than 1 year old and 88% younger than 10 years old. INTERVENTIONS: Arterial blood saturations, as measured by a hemoximeter, were recorded for all patients after bypass operations. These were time-matched, with high-fidelity, to pulse oximeter values. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean oximetric difference, or “pulse oximetry overestimation,” was defined as arterial oxygen saturation minus that predicted by pulse oximetry, was greater for Black than for White patients (–3.18% vs. –2.19%, p = 0.006). Regression shows a significant effect of Sao2 on oximetric difference (p < 0.001) and mildly significant trend for the categorical race (p = 0.03) as well as their composite interaction term (p = 0.047). Oximetric differ

levels indicate disease severity and clinical outcomes in patients with acute respiratory failure, a common cause of critical illness. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: ICUs in UPMC Health Systems hospitals within Western Pennsylvania. PATIENTS: Two hundred ninety-seven critically ill adults with acute respiratory failure. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured GLP-1 and GIP levels in baseline samples collected at the time of study enrollment. We compared incretin levels across subgroups differing by severity of illness and investigated associations between incretins and markers of systemic host responses and intestinal permeability. In our primary analysis, we tested the association of each incretin level with 90-day mortality by logistic regression in unadjusted analyses and in analyses adjusted for age, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, and circulating interleukin-6 levels. GLP-1 levels were higher in nonsurvivors and patients with or at-

a novel device and technique for bedside PT, named the Illuminated Tracheal Alignment Guide (iTAG). METHODS: An interventional pilot study evaluated the feasibility and safety of the iTAG device and method. The study was approved by our local institutional review board and a Food and Drug Administration waiver was granted for use of our device. Patients in a neurocritical care unit requiring tracheostomy were screened and consented for inclusion. Exclusion criteria included significant vascular overlap and specific ventilator settings. The iTAG method involves a laser light source and a needle guide with a hard stop, used in conjunction with standard PT equipment. Data on demographics, procedure details, and early complications were collected and compared with historical control data from patients who underwent standard tracheostomy (ST). RESULTS: From January 2023 to July 2024, 30 patients underwent PT using the iTAG device. The mean time from intubation to tracheostomy was 15.53 days